Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lifted by Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,807 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.3% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 32.9% in the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.11 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.